Off to our first site!! We were all trained and eager to work. When we got there we wanted to turn around because it was so nasty and full of invasives.
We started off using hedge trimmers to make paths through the multiflora rose to get to trees covered in oriental bittersweet. Once we established our paths, we cut the bittersweet vines in the hope of saving the trees which were being strangled by the exotics.
Our next step was a foliar treatment. We hopped in a line and started killing all the invasives. Our focus was mainly on rose and bittersweet but we were also able to take care of some Japanese honeysuckle, privet, and autumn olive. Now we must wait for the herbicide to take effect so that we can check for resprouting later in the season.
UPDATE
The team returned to this site in an attempt to retreat the exotics missed in our first attempt. The area is still very dense and overtaken, however. The weather was not in our favor and we were only able to spray for about 15 minutes before the wind picked up and ended our efforts. Anna was able to cut down a tree of heaven using her favorite weapon: the chainsaw.
